How to Make a Killing

If you were asking for a dumber version of No Other Choice, whether you wanted it or not — it’s already here, waiting for you in theaters.

How to Make a Killing by John Patton Ford is not the most memorable film out there, but it’s a fun one.

The story follows Becket Redfellow, a member of a powerful multi-billionaire family who cast out his mother when she got pregnant with him, stripping her of everything. Still, Becket retained the right to inherit the family fortune — but only if every other relative were to die. Before her death, his mother makes him promise that he’ll take what’s his and live the life he deserves. As an adult, Becket realizes that no one in his family is planning to die anytime soon — so he decides it’s time to take matters into his own hands and help them along. Eventually, he ends up facing justice… but not for what you might expect.

The premise itself is genuinely intriguing and does a good job of pulling you in. It’s a bright, good-looking film — a bit clumsy in execution, but clearly aiming to be an easy, undemanding theater watch. The problem is, it never really goes beyond the basic “eat the rich” slogan or the idea that everyone is greedy and chasing money.

Unlike the much stronger and deeper No Other Choice, the main character here loses his motivation somewhere around the halfway point — or rather, he should have. The film briefly touches on themes like every action having consequences, and the idea that sooner or later you’ll face your fate and answer for what you’ve done. But then it kind of shrugs that off, suggesting that maybe you can just be rich — become the very thing you were trying to eat.

Despite having all the opportunities to explore something more interesting — a man trying to take control of his own narrative, a dysfunctional family with complex dynamics — what we actually get is a fragmented story. It plays out almost like a series of set pieces: here he kills one relative under some setup, then another, then another. Meanwhile, his childhood friend lingers in the background, quickly realizing something’s off and trying to squeeze money out of him, understanding that these deaths aren’t just coincidences.

At some point, the film tries to dig into the motivations and personalities of the family members being killed, but it never commits. Neither they nor the main character are given proper development — they all feel disposable. This lack of depth in the script carries over into the performances.

Glen Powell once again tries very hard to play a movie star. You can see the effort, you can see that he really wants it — but it’s still not quite working. In every film, Glen Powell plays Glen Powell. His charisma is enough to make it watchable, but there’s nothing memorable about his performance here. The character played by Margaret Qualley is so flat and underwritten that even she couldn’t pull this one off. The rest of the cast just kind of passes through, does their job, and disappears.

In the end, what we get is a toothless, occasionally amusing, decent-looking film that isn’t trying to tell you a story as much as it wants to show you a light, entertaining action picture. You probably won’t regret going to the theater — but you also won’t remember it the next day.

5/10